John Rogers: And today we want to talk to you about some of the symbols that we found on some furniture drawers. Yuqing tell us about the symbols that are on this drawer.

Yuqing Zhao: Okay, here on this drawer we found a flower which is a peony. That means wealth. And a pair of magpies that means a marital blessing.

John Rogers: Can you imagine anything better than pulling out a drawer in the morning that wishes you martial blessing and happiness? The other drawer here, and Yuqing tell us about the symbols on this drawer.

Yuqing Zhao: This drawer is from the same piece of furniture, it's an old piece of furniture about 50-60 years old. On this we found a pair of Mandarin ducks which means the same thing as martial blessing. And flowers which is lotus which we know means upright.

John Rogers: So you can see how some knowledge of symbols can help add a great deal of meaning to your Chinese furniture. Here is one more.

Yuqing Zhao: A drawer from a different piece of furniture and on this piece we found fruit. This is pomegranate. That means a lot of sense which Chinese people always want.

John Rogers: And the reason Chinese people always want sense is because they were the ones who could compete in the official examinations and they were the ones who could become part of the so to speak official class.

Yuqing Zhao: Also they are the ones basically labored to work in the fields to grow foods.

John Rogers: A very important one.

Yuqing Zhao: And this one is from the second piece of furniture as well. On this one we have peach. Peach means longevity. So we always have good meanings on a piece of furniture as well. The symbols we find all the time on a lot of piece of furniture.

John Rogers: So you can enrich your knowledge and enjoyment of antique Chinese furniture by knowing something about the symbols. Thanks so much.

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